Short Attention Span Record Reviews February 2018, Vol. II

ANNA VON HAUSSWOLFF – Dead Magic
As I’ve previously said, born with a name like that the poor girl had no option but to become a goth. (7)

BRIAN FALLON – Sleepwalkers
Started out with The Gaslight Anthem as a strong Springsteen wannabe, seems to have lost his mojo somewhere along the way. (6)

BRIGID MAE POWER – The Two Worlds
Folk musician that feels much more suited to tour with Earth or Grails rather than with Joan Baez or Fleet Foxes. (8)

DWARVES – Take Back The Night
17 songs in 25 minutes evenly split between So-Cal melodic pop-punk anthems sung by Blag Dahlia and hardcore splatterfests screamed by Rex Everything (AKA Nick Oliveri). (8)

EZRA FURMAN – Transangelic Exodus
A gay Springsteen just created the queer “Born To Run”. (8)

GIANTS IN THE TREES – Giants In The Trees
Krist Novoselic’s new band sounds interesting, a post-grunge Americana amalgam of folk, indie rock and psychedelia with multi-layered sounds supporting Jillian Raye’s unique vocals. Produced by Jack Endino. (7)

HC McENTIRE – Lionheart
Lesbian punk assisted by friends like the legendary riot grrrl Kathleen Hanna (Bikini Kill) releases this year’s best country record to date. (8)

JOAN AS POLICE WOMAN – Damned Devotion Read
If you think you’d enjoy the female version of a Prince/Leonard Cohen hybrid then you should definitely check this out. (7)

JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE – Man Of The Woods
He’s a millionaire married to Jessica Biel, does it really matter what you or I think of his new album? (6)

KYLE CRAFT – Full Circle Nightmare
His debut album made the List in 2016, and this is a strong follow-up in the same “Redneck Ziggy” style. But if he really wants to be Bowie then he needs to come up with something else next time. (8)

LEGEND OF THE SEAGULLMEN – Legend Of The Seagullmen
Really fun nautically-themed concept album by heavy metal supergroup featuring Brett Hinds (Mastodon) and Danny Carey (Tool) among others, sounds like a cross between King Diamond (but with listenable vocals) and Primus (but with listenable vocals). (8)

THE SWORD – Used Future
If you’re a fan of “Technical Ecstasy”/”Never Say Die”-era Sabbath you’ll love this. But of all Sabbath eras, why the fuck are you a fan of the “Technical Ecstasy”/”Never Say Die” era? (7)

VARIOUS ARTISTS – Black Panther: The Album
Impressive hip-hop collection curated by and heavily featuring Kendrick Lamar plus a bunch of guests (SZA, Vince Staples, Anderson Paak, James Blake, the Weeknd etc.). Stands alone without the movie just fine. (8)

VARIOUS ARTISTS – Boom-A-Lay & Chug-A-Lug: Exotic Blues & Rhythm, Vol. 7 & 8
The “Exotic Blues & Rhythm” series was originally issued on 10” vinyl and it’s out for the first time on CD, a crazy collection of tittyshakers from the late 50’s/early 60’s. Put this on = instant party! (10)

VARIOUS ARTISTS – Northern Soul: The Ultimate Collection
Fantastic 5-CD Northern Soul compilation, if you need more stuff for that instant party we were just talking about. (9)